5.06pm – Lap 40/57 Verstappen and Perez on the soft tires
The two Red Bulls chose soft tires for the final part of the race. Max has an 18” advantage over his teammate. He is unapproachable.
5.03pm – Lap 38/57 Leclerc sets the best lap
After a very tormented first part, Charles sets the best lap in 1:34.090. The goal now is to get Russell back.
Ore 17:01 – Giro 35/57 Pit stop Sainz
A very quick stop in 2”2 for Carlos who returns to the track in third position, Red Bull responds by calling Perez back to the pit lane.
4.58pm – Lap 33/57 Leclerc, second pit stop
Charles is 11” behind Sainz, the Monegasque returns to the pits for the second pit stop.
Ore 16:54 – Giro 32/57 Pit stop Russell
Russell made the second pit stop in 2”9 and fitted another set of hard tyres.
4.52pm – Lap 31/57 The top 10
Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda.
4.50pm – Lap 29/57 Brake problems for Leclerc
Leclerc has an imbalance in braking distribution, he is now trying to manage the problem. But he was hoping for a completely different race.
4.45pm – Lap 27/57 Sainz fails to attack Perez
Carlos is unable to get much closer to Perez, the gap remains at 2 seconds.
4.43pm – Lap 25/57 Hamilton: «My seat is broken»
Hamilton in eighth place, complains over the radio: “Something is broken in my seat.” Russell meanwhile is fourth.
4.40pm – Lap 23/57 Perez is asked to push
Message for the Mexican: push to keep Sainz away. The Spaniard’s gap is now 2”, not a safe enough margin.
4.37pm – Lap 22/57 Verstappen alone
Max has an 8” lead on Pere, he is racing alone like last year. Sainz on the other hand is 2”2 behind Perez, the Ferrari works better with the hard tires. Leclerc continues to suffer with brake balance.
4.34pm – Lap 20/57 The top 10
Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Alonso and Zhou.
4.32pm – Lap 18/57 Sainz also passes Russell
Unleashed, Carlos takes third position, a nightmare race for Leclerc who complains of a problem with braking balance and continues to collect lockups.
4.29pm – Lap 17/57 Great overtaking by Sainz on Leclerc
Sainz delays the braking and passes Leclerc with a nice maneuver and the help of the DRS, now he will go after Russell.
4.27pm – Lap 16/57 Pit stop also for Sainz
Carlos Sainz at the pit stop, returns behind Leclerc. Up front, Perez regained his position on Russell.
Ore 16:25 – Turn 14/57 Russell passes Perez
Russell aggressive on Perez, he regains his position.
Ore 16:22 – Giro 12/57 Pit stop Leclerc e Russell
Both Charles and the Mercedes driver mounted white tyres. Perez also changes tires and makes the same choice.
Ore 16:20 – Giro 11/57 Sainz passes Leclerc
Duel between Ferrari drivers, Carlos passes Charles at turn 1 and comes close to making contact.
4.18pm – Lap 10/57 Hamilton passes Alonso
Lewis takes eighth position, overtaking Alonso, Sargeant stops on the side of the track and then returns. Yellow flags in the first sector.
4.15pm – Lap 8/57 Sainz glued to Leclerc
Carlos Sainz is pushing, Leclerc seems to be having trouble with the car. The Spaniard tries but is forced to block. Verstappen has 6” ahead of Russell.
4.13pm – Lap 7/57 Four-way battle behind Verstappen, Perez passes Leclerc
Russell, Leclerc, Perez and Sainz are attacked. The Mexican passes Leclerc in the straight with the DRS, Carlos is very close to Charles.
4.11pm – Lap 5/57 Perez chasing Leclerc
Now Leclerc must also defend Perez, while Verstappen has gained 4” on Russell and is running away. He was the favorite on the eve.
4.09pm – Lap 4/57 The top 5
Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz. Behind Hamilton he remained in ninth position.
Ore 16:07 – Giro 3/57 Russell passes Leclerc
Russell puts pressure on Leclerc and forces him to go wide, taking second place. Not a good start for Ferrari.
4.05pm – Lap 2/57 Verstappen tries to escape
Verstappen has a 1”2 advantage over Leclerc, Russell is in third position ahead of Perez. The Dutchman’s pace is superior to that of the Ferrari driver.
Verstappen starts well, Leclerc tries to attack him but doesn’t pass. Behind Perez he overtook Sainz.
3.59pm – The choice of tires
All twenty drivers chose to start on the soft tyres.
3.55pm – The top ten on the grid
Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Perez, Alonso, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Hulkenberg.
3.51pm – Sainz from the second row
Carlos’ prediction: «If Verstappen makes a mistake we can win, otherwise not». The Spaniard’s goal is to get on the podium.
3.45pm – Big test for Ferrari on race pace
Ferrari has changed the car compared to 2023 to improve race pace. In the tests the results were good, but the balance behind Red Bull is great. Leclerc said: “Today we will really see where we are.”
Ore 15:40 – L’incognita Mercedes
Russell starts third, Mercedes showed a good race pace. But the reference behind it is Sergio Perez with the other Red Bull. If he gets back to the podium area then the advantage of the world champion team will still be very large. Hamilton, on the other hand, started from ninth position and chose a different set-up from that of his teammate.
3.38pm – Ferrari’s last victory in Bahrain
It is from 2022 with Charles Leclerc. Then it was a one-two with Carlos Sainz second, Ferrari had been competitive in the first part of the championship then dropped in the second and Verstappen had won his second title.
3.30 pm – Possible strategies
For Pirelli we are heading towards a two-stop race: the fastest strategy would be to fit the red tires at the start, switch to the hard ones and then finish with another set of soft ones.
3.27pm – All ready for the grill
Cars on the track for the warm-up laps that will form the starting grid of the first GP of the season. There will be 57 laps around the Sakhir track which hosted the first Formula 1 race in Bahrain twenty years ago.
3.23pm – Horner with wife Geri Halliwell
3.12pm – The starting grid
1st row
1. Max Verstappen (Ola) Red Bull 1’29″179
2. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1’29″407
2nd row
3. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes 1’29″485
4. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Ferrari 1’29’507
3rd row
5. Sergio Perez (Mes) Red Bull 1’29″537
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1’29″542
4th row
7. Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1’29″614
8. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1’29″683
5th row
9. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1’29″710
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas 1’30″502
6th row
11. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Racing Bulls 1’30”129
12. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1’30”200
7th row
13. Alexander Albon (Gbr) Williams 1’30”221
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Racing Bulls 1’30”278
8th row 1
5. Kevin Magnussen (Dan) Haas 1’30”529
16. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Kick Sauber 1’30”756
9th row
17. Zhou Guanyu (Cin) Kick Sauber 1’30”757
18. Logan Sargeant (Usa) Williams 1’30”770
10th row
19. Esteban Ocon (From) Alpine 1’30”793
20. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1’30”948
3.06pm – Where were we? Pole for Verstappen
(Daniele Sparisci) In yesterday’s qualifying we found ourselves more or less where we left off: the usual Verstappen on Red Bull will start from pole position (number 33 in his career). Few surprises, he was the favorite on the eve even in the first two days he hadn’t shown the true potential of the blue spaceship. Ferrari doesn’t succeed in the coup, Leclerc is left with the regret of a less than flawless last lap but in the end the objective was not first place but putting a car on the front row. Charles has completed the mission, he is not happy and would not have been happy even for the pole position he has enjoyed in recent years. And then because in Q2, the intermediate qualifying session, he had set a lower time than that of SuperMax. Read the full report.
2.43pm – Where to see the Grand Prix on the Sakhir track
2024-03-02 15:45:00
#todays #race #live #Verstappen #ahead #Perez #Sainz #Leclerc #brake #problems #Corriere.it
